HOUSTON — Todd Helton’s sense of humor returned Thursday, the pregame featuring his crooked smile and dry wit. There will, however, be no more hits this season. Bothered by a stiff back over the past two weeks, Helton is shut down for the season.

“He’s likely done,” manager Jim Tracy said.

Tracy said it would be “ridiculous” to put Helton back in the lineup, thus risking a serious back injury. The 38-year- old underwent an MRI recently, which revealed no structural damage. He had a cortisone shot this month in hopes of returning but saw no significant improvement.

Still, Helton doesn’t think the back problem will linger into next season.

“There’s no surgery. That was great news. I will be fine,” said Helton, who’s hitting .302 with a .385 on-base percentage, 14 home runs and 69 RBIs. “I plan on working out aggressively this winter just like I did last year. Maybe even more.”

General manager Dan O’Dowd said this week that the plan is to exercise Jason Giambi’s $1 million mutual option for next season, pairing him again with Helton at first base.

No CarGo.

Carlos Gonzalez remained in Denver after the extraction of a painful wisdom tooth.

Footnotes.

Aaron Cook said he’s not scheduled to pitch again this season. His right hip is sore after being struck by a line drive in Wednesday’s game. . . . Tracy talked up Jason Hammel, who returns to the rotation Saturday. A month ago, the Rockies couldn’t stand watching his inconsistencies. Other teams were wary about trading for him because of his mental meltdowns. Hammel, however, has rebounded of late and appears more likely to be in the rotation next spring than not. . . . Troy Tulowitzki started back-to-back games, singling and scoring in his first at-bat. He still was not running at full speed because of the bursitis in his left hip.

CenturyLink, the telecommunications company that ended its sponsorship agreement with Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall because of his protests during the national anthem last year, said it will not terminate its agreement with current client Emmanuel Sanders.